


Sailing Out Far

by lee_godhyuck



Series: Lost at Sea [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, Murder Mystery, NCT Dream - Freeform, sci fi, sea creatures - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 17:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15539343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lee_godhyuck/pseuds/lee_godhyuck
Summary: The rest of NCT Dream seek out answers to the strange sea creature that maimed Jaemin and took Renjun's life from them. Their small town becomes less suspicious, rather their own parents are prime suspects.





	Sailing Out Far

**Author's Note:**

> kinda wanted to make this series in a way you don't have to really read the previous parts to get it

The proper continuation of the previous amendment would have been not to stalk the merman and inform officials… But who would believe such a preposterous idea from a group of teenage boys? Therefore, the 6 boys sat in Chenle's room and rather opted to devise a plan to catch this so called merman.

“There are only 3 things that are for sure about this thing… It hates the light, lives in the shallower area of the sea and… That it’s real.” Stated the eldest, Mark paced around the room blindly making the others fidget in nerves. “Seems to like feasting on kids more than adults as well.” Said Jisung who was sprawled out on the wooden flooring. The others directed their attention to the youngest and had registered the fact for the first time, “You think we should bait ourselves to catch it? Like worms on the edge of fishing stick?” Questioned Donghyuck who halved joked yet was dead serious. They all turned to him and deadpanned, “Gosh, Renjun if you're here I'm so sorry you have to hear this fool's idea.” Chenle said to the ghost while staring blankly at an empty space, Renjun's favorite seating place in his room. 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, “I know Renjun would have said something smart and made a better plan but that's all we have now… It's a start, don’t rinse me you dick.” Mark snickered, “Language Donghyuck, there's a baby here.” At the elders statement Jisung had flipped him off and the others laughed. “It's still the same even with his absence… Maybe he really is here with us now.” Jeno softly muttered, “Course he is, Renjun knows were all idiots and would get into the stupidest of situations… He wouldn't leave us completely.” Jaemin reassured Jeno and all the boys looked at the empty space. 

It had been approximately 2 months since their best friends late fall. Meaning school was back and that their fathers had returned.

Renjun's father isolated himself after a grand verbal dispute ensued between him and his spouse. He blamed her for letting him even leave by himself, for being a lousy mother. When Renjun's father said that he immediately regretted his words and locked himself away in the family's office, he was well aware that he was in the wrong to say such a thing. For the millionth time that summer the boys welcomed Renjun's crying mother into their arms and comfort. 

It was weird, starting an entirely new school year without him. It would have been his graduating year alongside Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin. At the thought of this, Mark sighed deeply. The eldest should have left already to the city and go into University, but took the year off to deal with Renjun's rippling effects. Mark's mother hesitantly agreed but made her son swear an oath that he'd return to education at once when the year break was over with. Chenle and Jisung certainly felt the repercussions the most, the younger ones had lost a role model and were almost, empty like despite suppressing their emotions. 

A knock came from Chenle's closed door, “Boys, it's almost curfew you better get going.” Said Chenle's mother. Ah yes, Renjun's death and the fall of a few others allowed new rules to be put into effect automatically. They consisted of a curfew for minors, they were to be home by 8 P.M and not leave before 6 A.M, to be escorted to school by an elder and ultimately the lagoons, beaches and sea were to be kept closed. No one was permitted to be on them and would be fined if seen near them. Therefore, it made the friends' plan a little more difficult to be put into action, sure enough they could sneak out but with the guards out it was fruitless. “Yes, Mrs. Zhong we will be going now, thank you for the reminder.” Said Jeno extremely politely. The boys took that as the signal to get up and climb out through Chenle's window. They all told said boy goodbye until he shut his window and closed his curtains. The other 5 lazily treaded from end to end of the town and soon enough Mark was left alone. He was not a minor and did not need to follow the rules of curfew, he often refused to go home as soon as he could but instead sneakily loomed around. Why? So that he could scope out the guard's hours, shift change and position. He used his advantage of being 18 to its fullest potential and made lists and a map, when it was to be fully completed he would show the rest. He hopes it is tonight so that they can strike quicker, with one last look around he went home. Not for long of course, when the noise in his house halted and he was sure his mother was asleep he snuck out from his own window.

Ironic how Mark was a symbol of authority in his friend group but often rebelled against structure when needed. He was not a tyrant or dictator, he was a peaceful ruler.  

The boy rushed in the shadows and fog of the town, avoiding the guards and found himself by the docks. The boats were tied down and swayed ever so slightly thanks to the waves that seemed to grow more violent with each kill of the merman. Mark had made his way down to the lagoon by hiding himself through the large plant life and rocks. They tickled against the skin where his shorts did not cover, very cool and it sent shivers down his spine. It was mighty cold for a September night but luckily Mark sported a windbreaker that provided enough warmth against the frigid air. 

He then reached his destination, a cave near the lagoon. In all of Mark's year of living in the town, he had never truly explored it. All he knows is that his father strictly told him to stay away from it and to never enter, to this day Mark does not know the harm of entering the cave. Part of him wants to go in and check what is inside but another part tells him to stay away from the lurking unknown danger. However, it is in this instant does he see how it nears the shallow area of the sea. It's quite a swim from the patch where the lagoon sat but with a small sailboat one could make it there in a few minutes.

Wait… Sailboat? Fear popped into Mark's eye and it made him turn back home running, he carefully returned and jumped underneath his covers. He had to bring it up to them tomorrow.

_How could we all be so stupid not notice it earlier?_ _He was the only with the_ _abilities_ _to join their fathers on their overseas trip._

Mark willed himself to sleep and was impatient for the morning to welcome him.

The next day at school, the boys sat outside under a tree for lunch. There were laughs and giggles until they saw a solemn Mark walk onto the school's property. His expression made the others feel awkward and their happy vibe died out as quickly as it came. 

“Jesus Mark, you're not even in school and still stressed?” Joked Donghyuck in efforts to ease the tension. The eldest shook his head and leaned against the tree, they all looked up to him. “I don't mean to be a bother to you guys but… I had a thought last night,” He paused and collected his thoughts before continuing “You know the cave near the lagoon that was always off limits?” he asked them. They nodded and Chenle fired back with “Don't tell me you were sneaking around again? Mark you're going to get caught!” Jeno nodded and added, “Look we get you don't have a curfew but that doesn't mean to do stupid sh- stuff at night! Especially with what happened to us at the lagoon a couple months ago!” At that Jaemin suddenly felt invading claws ripping his clothing and the nails digging into his skin, the memory of the exact moment where his leg became broken popped up, he winced. The elder hit a fist against the tree, remnants of bark stuck to his flesh while the other fell to the ground, “Listen, I know what happened! My point is leading to that and Renjun so let me finish.” He demanded, they all shut up and straighten themselves. “As I was saying, and yes I was at the lagoon last night but… I looked towards the cave and we all know how far it is to swim to from there but then I thought what if we took a sailboat there and I remembered a very important detail that even his parents forgot about. Where the hell is Renjun's sailboat?!” 

At this new thought, the atmosphere went from awkward to deadly silent. None of them looked at each other or said anything, some played with grass or their hands or just sat aimlessly. Mark looked at them hopeful that maybe one of them had the answer he did not but he was wrong. The first to break the silent was Jisung, “Wha..What are you getting at Mark?” and the boy shrugged his head, “An answer I guess.” 

“Hey… We all thought that maybe Jun took his sailboat and went off to follow after his dad but that's obviously not possible and he knew that. Jun was a smart kid, he also loved that boat… For it to be missing as long as him…” Jaemin trailed off, he believed his idea reached the others. “Are you saying that Renjun took his sailboat with him the day he went missing?!” Chenle gasped out.

They looked at each other and their eyes gleamed, not with happiness but a sombre delight. “Wouldn't the boat or pieces show up after a while though? Kinda hard to believe they wouldn't drift back to shore.” Donghyuck said and Jeno perked up with, “Unless… unless it’s out there or  _in_  there.” Jeno remarked while looking at Mark. “The cave? Yeah, I'm thinking that too but why would Renjun ever go in there, like Jaemin said he was a smart kid who followed the rules.” 

“Curiosity killed the cat Mark… Renjun may have been the cat and we know the Curiosity is that  _thing._ ” Donghyuck darkly compared. They all gulped very audibly, “So what's the plan then? We have to tell his parents or the police.” Jeno said and everyone disagreed, “It doesn't feel right to do so, we should be the ones to unsheathe the truth of Renjun's death.” Said Jisung. Jeno sighed, “It's a bit stupid though and you all know it but whatever majority rules.” They nodded to show that they knew Jeno was ultimately right.

“We meet at Chenle's house tonight, I have to show you all something more. Plus the bell's going to ring.” And as if on cue, the irritating sound of the bell vibrated through the air and the schoolboys packed their lunch and belongings till they parted ways with Mark. The elder watched his friends become smaller and when he no longer saw them, he left. 

As promised, they were meeting at Chenle's room and waited for one more person. They waited on Mark, the one who initially called for said meeting. Then a figure popped up in front the window and it was Mark who held two pieces of paper in his hand. He jumped inside and quickly placed his papers down and straightened them out.

“Uh.. Care to explain Minhyung.” This came from Donghyuck and the others knew he meant business just from the sudden call of Mark's actual name, it even shook the owner of the name. Nonetheless, he cleared his throat and started off with the diagram, “Well obviously, it's a map of our town but sneaking out to the lagoon wasn't the only thing I did after curfew. I kinda stalked the guards and stuff but I'll get to that real quick.” 

Mark pointed to a box in the top right hand corner, it was a legend decoding his map. “This map shows where all the guards are positioned and blind ones that are hidden away. Each is responsible for a diameter around maybe… 25 meters? I mean the town is kinda small so makes sense, its basically a block.” Mark had paused to look at his beloved friends and decipher their expressions. They all seemed concentrated on the diagram and when the elder took his time explaining, they glanced up to him. “Okay, so then what's this paper for?” Jisung asked while pointing at the times written down in a weird pattern that he seemed not to understand despite this new information.

“It's the time of shifts or switches for each guard, that's what took a majority of my time it was hasty and an annoyance to do but I did it.” Mark said with a slight lack of expression from remembering the all nighters he had pulled just to stalk one guard each night. Jeno had placed his hand on Mark's back and warmly said, “Wow Mark, you really put in work. Where would we be without you honestly?” The elder smiled. 

“So when do we start this plan to get into the caves and see what's up? How do we distract them and steal a whole boat?” Chenle questioned, Jaemin only scoffed “I think that's the least of our problems… In case you all forgot this thing mauled me and got to Renjun, we can't just show up in some dangerous cave that's forbidden  _and_  is probably where the thing lives.” The others knew Jaemin had a point.

“Light.” Is all Donghyuck said, they looked up at him, “Jaemin's said it before, how the light saved his life. Unless we attack it during daytime which is not an option, we have to lure the merman into the lighthouse or bring our own light.” Donghyuck then asked a question that everyone thought of but did not want to voice. “But, I can't stop thinking to why Renjun would ever go in there  _alone._  It's almost like he knew something?” Donghyuck ended it off unsure. 

“There's no clue he left either, if Renjun really wanted to tell us something he would have. Jun would have also planned this out… We've been in his room loads and there's nothing.” Said Jeno. 

Perplexed on what to do, they decided to start their search mission for anything Renjun left behind. They decided to go to the deceased home. 

When Mrs. Huang opened the door, she let them in without more than a “Hello,” it was a regular occurrence now. They marched right into the make shift shrine and though it felt horrendous to ransack the room and belongings of someone who was not there, they had to. After double, triple 

checking the boys could confirm that there was nothing to be found in Renjun's room. Now even more lost, they all conjured their individual thought process for some sort of an answer. “Curfew is soon, we gotta go now. Er Mark, don't do anything to brash.” Chenle demanded. Mark had only nodded but in reality he already planned to make his way to the docks, where Renjun's old sailboat was typically kept. 

 _Renjun_ _, sailboat, merman, cave, missing, danger._ Were Mark's repeating thoughts as he stealthily made his way down to the lagoon.  _Renjun_ _never talked about the whole situation afterwards, he just went missing. There is something we are missing but I'll never figure it out like this._ With his  head hung down, Mark walked around the edge of the lagoon and glanced at the cave, he then noticed a pink string surrounding his feet. He kneeled down to inspect it and the string was actually locks of hair. Grossed out, Mark dropped it but no one in this town had pink hair and if they did it would be an uproar. The craziest hair colours came from Chenle and Jisung with their vibrant purple and blue hairs a while ago, currently Jeno's platinum blond stood out the most. Mark took the hair and placed it in his pocket, perhaps it was nothing but on the flip side it could aid them potentially. 

Mark then remembered himself as child and playing with his mini boats while his father studied some specimen. The memory with his father that sticks is of a folk tale. 

 _"They're called Sirens, they're mermaids but extremely dangerous. They love to lure in boys like us, you can't trust them. Think of them as Atlantis' fallen angels."_ Mark was around 7 and had big doe eyes listening to it, " _Have you ever seen one dad? Are they as pretty as mom?"_ His father laughed and Mark blushed a bit at this memory, so secure.  _"I have, I drew it down when I returned. I don't where it is though now, maybe when I find it you'll see it."_

Then Mark had a thought, that he would go down to the library and through his father's old notes in the morning.  

The smell of the salty sea water was as strong as it ever was. The rushing sound of tides completing a cycle came in periodically. Mark cringed, at the thought of the math problems involving sinusoidal functions, he hated how it applied to his everyday life. In a haste, he got ready and first went into his father's office. His mother was gone for work already meaning he would most likely not get caught. You see, Mark's mother had strong feelings about her spouse being gone at large almost the entire year, she hated being reminded of him because she missed him a lot. Mark is pretty sure the only reason she let him stay one more year, is due to the fact she is afraid of being left alone by another loved one. 

Opening the door, he scavenged his father's bookshelf, looked through a million pages but found nothing about mermaids.  _Maybe I should focus on the cave itself, no?_ With this in mind, Mark then turned to the more geological side of his father's quarters. He found himself nose deep in a book, a note then fell out of it. This is what it read.

_April 5th 2007_

_It's been deemed that the blasted cave leads to this insane labyrinth. I will be exploring it sometime this week, I'll joined with the Huang's in this expedition. The easiest way there is a sailboat or paddle boat really. However, I have explored the depths of oceans and dangerous sea creatures up close, but I have never felt as scared as I do now. Maybe it is the dreams that flash before me when I think about this cave. I am not the only one suffering through this_ _phenomenon_ _alone, the rest of the fishermen, Mark's_ _friend's_ _fathers also experience it. Could it be... the siren? No, that has always been a tale in this town. Though, there is that one legend of Neptune's shunned daughter. Listen to me, this is insane. Nonetheless, the caves will finally be deemed explored and hopefully we can further study into it._

Mark read it over and over again.  _Neptune's shunned daughter? Never heard of that story. Maybe the boys have. Weird._  The young adult folded the paper and took it with him while still examining through notes of the cave. He then discovered another loose paper, a map. It was titled,  _Cave_. Was this the labyrinth? These were the passage ways, but they were stopped abruptly from every way in the dead centre of the extremely confusing cave. 

Rather than heading towards the library, Mark waited for the others to finish their school day. It was Thursday, they all had nothing to do. When they saw him waiting in their regular spot, they gave the eldest mixed expressions. "Let's go to the library, there's a lot I just found out." Without hesitation, they trailed directly behind Mark into the quiet building located downtown. 

The group found a desk far away from everyone on the upper level, hidden away almost. "Sorry I didn't listen to you lot, but I went back to the lagoon last night and found this." Mark dropped the bagged lock of pink hair in front them. "What the hell Mark, are you just collecting people's hair off the streets now? That's gross and creepy, maybe you should go to the city." Jisung said disgusted. Some of the others nodded, Mark rolled his eyes and pointed at the bag, "Okay then Jisung, then tell me who in this small town has hair this pink or even this colour? You are one of the only people with insane hair!" A snickered came from Jaemin.

Jisung was silent for a bit before he blurted out, "Well then Sherlock what do you make of this? Not all of us are on the same page as you." Mark thought it was fair as he never got to explaining its meaning. "I think it's weird that this is by the lagoon. Anyway, I have nothing else with it, I just took it in case. But what I really did is some research in my dad's office. You know since he is a marine biologist he usually studied things, but it was worth looking into." He then placed the note and map onto the desk. They 

took their time reading it and inspecting. 

"What's this with travelling into the cave's with Renjun's parents? Why would they even be with your father at this time?" Donghyuck stated, "But if that thing lives in the cave you think they found it? Maybe that's why the map just stops in the dead centre?" Jaemin was highly confused, scratching his head. Chenle looked deeply at both papers, "You know how Renjun's dad called his mom out for being a bad parent.... What if it's because they know what was really out there and just let him out like that? You think maybe his mom told him stories about mermaids?" This was an eye opener.

"That's a bit of a reach, if Renjun's parent knew of danger they'd obviously alert him to keep him safe instead of being in peril. Though, Jeno didn't you say your dad had Renjun's talked to him about dreams?" Jisung questioned the blonde, "Not that I remember to the best, but I do think my own dad did have some wild dreams. Talked about being led somewhere, actually didn't all of our dads at one point?" The question was directed to Donghyuck and Jaemin who both nodded slowly. 

"They love to lure boys..." Mark muttered but the others heard, they looked at him weirdly. "Well that's not adding onto your creep factor Mark." Jisung added, the eldest shook his head out of his trance. "No, when I was younger my dad told me fairy tales about the sirens mentioned in this note. That they'd lure boys in... But I have no idea about Neptune's daughter..." He trailed off. 

"Were in a library, maybe we can look into the tales of Atlantis?" Suggested Chenle, they then separated and looked for different books talking about Neptune or Atlantis in general. The sound of Jaemin's head hitting his chair was audible, said boy let out a giant sigh, "What exactly are we looking for, what does have to do with Renjun at all? We're resorting to fake stories for Merlin's sake." Jeno who was equally as unmotivated then perked his head up, "That's just it! We have to think more like Renjun. He came into the library a lot before he disappeared, didn't he? Maybe the librarians have a record of what he was reading? That's something, I'm going to go ask." Jeno got up and made his way downstairs to the front desk. 

"It doesn't explain his missing sailboat though? If Renjun say died almost immediately when meeting with this Siren? Wait, wait, wait, wasn't it a merman we saw though?" Chenle demanded, they looked at each other. "Technically we never saw it fully it was night time, only person you have to confirm this fact is Jaemin." Donghyuck mentioned to which Jaemin retorted, "Personally I never said anything about its gender. I just said it wasn’t human, you all inferred it was some merman and we rolled with it. But, girls have gone missing too so it's not a siren." 

Jisung snapped his fingers and waved the single one, "That's just it, were stuck looking for sirens. It's not one of those things-" The youngest placed an elbow on the table, "It's Neptune's shunned daughter, but it hasn't said anywhere that she was a mermaid or siren. We keep getting stuck because we infer things too much. These fairy tales are the best things we do have. Look if she was shunned, surely, she was bad somehow. All these books only have happy stories, we need to look into darker things." Everyone was impressed, the youngest may have just cracked the giant clue. 

Jeno was back and with a giant thump which gained them glares and hushes, the boys glanced at the cover.  _Atlantis' Demonic Ruins._ "I gave it a look while coming up here, there's this one page it automatically opened up to which means Renjun was fixated on it." Jeno opened up to it and the drawing of a naked... mermaid? Or whatever she was, rose from the water. The story continued on the page next to the drawing, it was titled...

_Mydreljia_ _[My-drill-g-ah]_

_The brutal horror of Atlantis that is typically stored away is of an insanely beautiful creature. Fishermen far and wide shake at the slight thought of her, she who is more frightening then the_ _occasional_ _sirens. This female creature is regarded as Neptune's shunned daughter, for what reasons one may ponder? She is the king's unwanted daughter as she was not created by his own accord. The Kraken's will_ _was_ _strong enough to force the Queen to birth the atrocious girl. Almost killing her mother in childbirth,_ _Mydreljia_ _was placed into the land of the living. She was the anti-Christ of the sea world._ _Thus_ _Neptune,_ _condemned_ _her into the darkest pit of the sea for all entirety. Unlike sirens, who sing gracefully and seduce men into their stomach as a_ _fulfilling_ _meal, the daughter was a_ _sorceress_ _. A powerful one at that, she is adorned as pure evil despite her beautiful and welcoming exterior._ _Mydreljia_ _utilized archaic dark_ _magick_ _to infest the mind of not only humans but the_ _mer_ _species_ _. Her influence was immensely strong and she was able to enter the dreams of_ _individuals_ _and guide them to her_ _sacred_ _lair. Her_ _magick_ _paralyzed the prey on contact, she transfigures into a_ _carnivore_ _, the great white shark. The unlucky prey_ _are_ _consumed wholly, ripped apart or have the life sucked out of them to_ _enhance_ _her power. The Kraken will arrive soon enough with her own will to conjure her father, however why would she when_ _Myrdreljia_ _stands as the most powerful sea demon._

_"_ That's it! That's what I saw! The night we got attacked this is the non-human thing I saw!" Jaemin whispered shouted. This was all that the group needed to advance their plans. The boys looked at the drawing again, the hair was pink. "She's real. Mark, you picked up her hair." Said Chenle but gulped loudly. Mark brought his elbows onto the table, intertwining his hands and resting his face on his appendages. Looking to the side, he only said.

"Renjun really pushed the limits of his sailboat this time." 


End file.
